Choosing Cornerstone Pediatrics

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We understand that vaccine safety is an important topic for many families, especially given the growing amount of media coverage and online information. These conversations often lead to questions—and we welcome them. We want to be clear about where we stand and how we approach vaccines at Cornerstone Pediatrics.

We strongly believe in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. They are one of the most powerful tools we have to protect children from serious, sometimes life-threatening illnesses. We follow the immunization schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) because it reflects the best available evidence and expert guidance.

Vaccination is not only about individual protection—it’s about community protection. Many of today’s parents have never seen the devastating effects of diseases like polio, tetanus, meningitis, or measles, thanks to widespread vaccination. But when vaccination rates drop, these diseases can and do return. Protecting your child helps protect others, including newborns, elderly family members, and those who are immunocompromised.

We also want to be clear that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities. This conclusion is supported by extensive research involving millions of children worldwide.

As your child’s healthcare providers, we consider timely vaccination to be one of the most important health decisions you can make. For this reason, we ask that our patients remain up to date with their immunizations. 

At a minimum, children should be current with all routine vaccines by age(s):  2, 5, 12 and 17 years of age and should not fall more than one visit behind the recommended schedule.

Every new patient over the age of 2 must have a documented plan to be caught up on all vaccines through nursing visits by their next scheduled well check appointment. 

If you have questions or concerns, we are always here to talk. We encourage open dialogue and are happy to share resources, research, and guidance so you can make informed decisions with confidence.

Patients with parents refusing to adhere to AAP recommended vaccine schedule for any reason, except for a documented medical reason, may be discharged from our practice and/or asked to find another healthcare provider who shares their views. 

We developed this vaccine policy to safeguard the health of our patients, their families, and our broader community by using safe, effective vaccines to prevent serious and potentially life-threatening diseases. This policy reflects our commitment to providing the highest level of protection against preventable illnesses. 

At Cornerstone Pediatrics, we are dedicated to the lifelong health and well-being of every child in our care.

We work hard to not overuse antibiotics. We educate families on appropriate use of antibiotics, but follow evidence-based guidelines. We do not automatically treat ear pain or a green snotty nose with antibiotics. We do not routinely prescribe antibiotics over the phone as we do not believe that is best practice. We will prescribe an antibiotic when we believe it is an appropriate treatment.

Please call our office number 757-410-9600 to schedule appointments. We do our best to accommodate same day sick appointments for our patients, but recommend that consults and chronic medical condition appointments be made in advance to best accommodate your child and Dr. McNeill's schedule. 

Sometimes an appointment may not be needed.  For questions and concerns you may have about your child's health, development and/or behavior, you can call our office during business hours and our nurse or our experienced medical assistants can address your concerns,  

Well child visits may be scheduled up to 3-6 months in advance. Please call during routine office hours to schedule these appointments or send us a message on the patient portal!

We make every effort to meet the needs of our patients, we schedule both routine well visits and sick visit appointments Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9-4 and Friday 9-12. We are growing and hope to expand our appointments to include Wednesday afternoons very soon.  We highly recommend you call ahead to schedule an appointment. Please familiarize yourself with our office hours to see if they work for your family.

Please sure we participate with your insurance plan.  

With the myriad of insurance plans available to our families, it is your responsibility to know the limits and coverage of your particular health insurance policy.  We will do our best to assist you with insurance plan; however, if you have questions about your coverage, it is best to check with your specific insurance company. 

We will ask you to bring your insurance card and ID at each visit, and please be prepared to pay any co-pays at the time of service. 

Our office does not want you to be surprised by a bill, but we must always bill your health plan based on federal guidelines and the actual services provided.

Insurance co-pays are expected to be paid at the time of service. If you are unable to comply, you must work with our office prior to the visit to set up a payment plan.

Cornerstone Pediatrics is committed to making our billing process as simple and easy as possible.

For this reason, we ask that ALL patients provide a credit card on file with our office. 

We will scan your card with a card reader. that will store your card number in a secure location in your electronic medical record. For security reasons, only the last four digits will be visible to our staff. Credit cards on file may be used to pay co-pays when you are seen in our office, including account balances after your insurance processes your claim.

We gladly reserve appointment times for you and appreciate that you have chosen Dr. Dianne and Cornerstone Pediatrics for your care. As a courtesy, we will remind you of your appointment by calling you prior to your scheduled date and time. If we cannot speak directly to you, we will leave a message. However, in the event your mailbox is full or your line is busy, our efforts to contact you may be unsuccessful. An appointment is a contract of time reserved for your treatment. 

We respect our patients’ valuable time and we request the same courtesy from our patients. Please extend this courtesy should you need to cancel and/or reschedule your appointment. We reserve the right to charge for regular appointments cancelled or broken without advance notice of 24 hours. After three (3) “no shows” we reserve the right to discharge your family from our practice.

We understand sometimes things happen beyond your control that may cause you to be late. However, we reserve the right to ask you to reschedule if you arrive late for your appointment.